One for the Slam book: Teen Carlos Alcaraz dishes out another tireless thriller to set up final meet with Casper Ruud

NEW YORK, September 10

With poise beyond his 19 years and enviable stamina, Carlos Alcaraz faced down the crowd and Frances Tiafoe on Friday night to collect another thrilling win and reach the US Open final.

Despite wrapping up the latest-finishing match in tournament history in the early morning hours on Thursday, the Spaniard had plenty more in the tank on Friday, sprinting to drop shots, pounding forehands and coolly holding serve in the tense fifth set.

“I feel great right now,” a beaming Alcaraz told reporters after the 6-7(6) 6-3 6-1 6-7(5) 6-3 win, which set up a final with Norway’s Casper Ruud on Sunday. “I mean, a little bit tired. But right now I’m just so, so happy.”

Alcaraz’s run at the tournament last year came to a jarring finish when he retired from quarterfinals with a leg injury he said came from playing long matches in his previous rounds.

Ruud in the mood

A 55-shot, marathon rally brought fans to their feet in Flushing Meadows on Friday but nearly levelled the two men who lived through it, Norwegian Casper Ruud and Russian Karen Khachanov, competing in their semifinal.

Fifth seed Ruud overcame Khachanov 7-6(5) 6-2 5-7 6-2 to reach his second Grand Slam championship match this year but said it took a herculean effort after clinching the first-set tiebreak in the longest rally of the tournament by far.

“After the set point when I won the first set, we are both probably like dying because we’re out of breath. At least I felt my knees or my legs were sort of shaking. I felt like – what do you call it – the liquid acid in the quads especially,” he said.

That turn led some to wonder if the highly-touted teenager possessed the endurance needed to win a Grand Slam given its gruelling, best-of-five format. But he has more than silenced the doubters with three consecutive five-set victories on the sport’s biggest stage. — Reuters

1 All four men’s semifinalists were making their debuts in that round in New York. That had not happened at the event since 1881 — that was the inaugural edition of then known as the US Championships.

2 The Spanidard is the second teen to make the US Open final in the Open Era, joining legendary American Pete Sampras.

1 Alcaraz is trying to become the youngest No. 1 in the ATP Rankings history. The teen can break the mark set by Lleyton Hewitt, who was 20 when he became World No. 1 in 2001.

2-0 Ruud would be the underdog against Alcaraz, who is 2-0 against the Norwegian including a win at the Miami Open final in April.